Week 63: Mucha Iglesia

January 22, 2024

Week 63: Mucha Iglesia

Hey y'all! I originally wrote good morning here, but (predictably) I've taken long enough to write this that it is no longer morning. So, good afternoon! Or evening...when does evening even start??

I suppose the biggest thing to mention here is that I got transferred! I'm now in the Canyon Springs/Las Lomas/Stone Oak area covering three wards. That's a lot of church to go to. My new companion's name is Elder Rivera and he's just out of training. He's a good missionary! He's kind of from Utah. (Moved around different states because his dad is in the Airforce) He works hard and loves it too, so I'm excited to see what we can do here! I was a bit sad to leave the YSA and the friends I was able to make there, but I'm excited for the change. I'm serving very North of San Antonio which is pretty different from everywhere I've served so far. Lots of gated communities and tons of big beautiful homes. And LOTS of members in such a small area. I'm stoked to get to know as many of them as possible (albeit a little overwhelmed at the task) and to progress the work forward here as much as I can. It's definitely a slower teaching area, but hopefully we'll be able to get some good member referrals :)

One fun thing that happened this week was I got to go to see some of my YSA friends on Friday! The Strock family lives in the Stone Oak ward but their kids at in the YSA, so we got invited too :)) It was nice to be able to go and see some people again. Elder Jones (my last companion) and Elder Mack (one of my favorite Elders ever) were both there since he replaced me in the YSA. Am I a little bit jealous that Elder Jones gets to serve with him in one of the most fun areas?...mayyyybe....

We've been doing a goooood chunk of knocking lately since our teaching pool is a bit - uh - small. And it's shrinking too. Finding is pretty hard here largely, in part, due to the fact that we can't knock a lot of places. There's lots of gates and LOTS of people who are, uh...not afraid to make their opinion of us known. And they will kick us out of their neighborhood. Some are more respectful about it than others hahah

Fortunately for me, I have developed a Teflon-like resistance to those kinds of attacks, so they just kind of bead up and roll right off now. I've begun to care much less of what people think of me, and much more of what God thinks of me. Sounds cliché, but hey, it's true!

We play pickle ball Friday mornings with a handful of brothers from our wards, so we'll see how good I get over the next 6 weeks. I did pretty good this time, if I do say so myself. It's kind of hilarious because these are a bunch of older guys and some of them are REALLY into it, so it can get a little intense sometimes. They're a good bunch though, and I had a lot of fun :)

I don't have much else to write about, and part of that is because I absolutely can't remember what we did the couple days before transfers since I don't have that areas schedule anymore. I need to journal more...

My spiritual thought is mostly just a quote from Camille N. Johnsons talk 'Jesus Christ is Relief' which is a great talk and you should definitely read it after this. (But read this part here first)

"So how does the Savior relieve us of the burdens of living in a fallen world with mortal bodies subject to grief and pain? Often, He performs that kind of relief through us! As covenant members of His Church, we promise “to mourn with those that mourn” and “comfort those that stand in need of comfort.” Because we are “come into the fold of God” and are “called his people,” we “are willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light.” Our covenantal blessing is to partner with Jesus Christ in providing relief, both temporal and spiritual, to all of God’s children. We are a conduit through which He provides relief."

As members of His church and followers of Christ, we act as His hands as we lift up our fellow brothers and sisters. So, because because invitations are great, I'd like to invite y'all to pray for guidance and opportunities for how YOU can be the Lord's hands in someone else's life this week. How can you serve them? How can you love them? How can you emulate Christ?

Anyways, I love you all and I hope your Monday is going fantastic! I'm doing so well and I'm really grateful to be here in Texas. (I can't believe I'm almost at 15 months already! That's crazy.) Catch y'all next week!

Love,

Elder DeWitt